Great to see a win, and a road win, even if its against a team behind us in the standings.

Of note, Knight hit 5 of 6 triple tries at one point in the 2nd half to end up going over 30 points for the first time in his career. Fantastic, hope to see a lot more of that.

Stuckey played real solid as the backup point. And when Stuckey and Knight were in the game together, we often had Singler and CV in to help with the spacing.

Worst part of our game, almost zero interior D, and zero defensive boards, with JMAX and Monroe in. Pretty ugly stuff. But I will note we actually outrebounded Cleveland slightly in the 2nd half, so just maybe Frank got the team to work on blocking out a bit better.

CV still can't play D - but with Drummond so often coming over to help him out, Cleveland players were spending so much time making sure Drummond was not about to block their shot, they just could not shoot straight anywhere near the basket. We opened up a 14 point lead with this pair in, and if coach would have pulled CV at that point he would have walked off the floor with 2 triples made and a good outing. Instead, our defense fell apart and lead shrunk to about 5 before CV was taken out of the game. Note, Maggette was not in the 2nd half, so that helped keep our D good for at least a little while to build that lead.

We got to the line plenty, way more than Cleveland. And we got a ton of points off turns - negating the constant 2nd chance points Cleveland was getting. We only turned it over once in the first half.

I did not check boxscore yet, so I don't know how many assists Knight ended up with to go with all the shots made and low turns. But a good game in any case.

Monroe was just not having a good game. Not so great decisions with the ball. Few rebounds. Yeah, for sure, Drummond was the better of the two centers that played this game.

Drummond continues to have those very sticky hands. Monroe got one pass to him. Nice to see coach play the two together even if only for a little bit there. Us fans are very impatient and excitedly looking forward to seeing more of that type of play. Stuckey got a pass into him too.

Drummond did not get many bounds himself, but he was often in fighting for the bound, resulting in us getting the ball.

Singler looks so bad shooting right now, I think he should get his eye checked out again. Just saying, his one shot was so off.

All for now. Still think we need players added to this rotation. Mostly at the bigs spots. One at shooting guard to replace Maggette. GO PISTONS!!!!!

Greg was Mr. Invisible out there, shooting a mere 2 of 8 from the floor with 4 boards and 3 assists (3 TOs). He looked like he was pressing to start the game, but calmed down after a while. Unfortunately, he was still unable to do anything against the hyperactivity of Varejao, just the type of player he struggles with. His defense left a lot to be desired as well.

Brandon was very good. He had only amassed 7 points by halftime but a 23 point second half gave him a career high 30 points (10/20 from the floor), 5 assists(1 TO) and 7 boards, outrebounding the team's best rebounder. He shot well from 3 and got to the line 6 times as well.

Tayshaun playing isotayshaun ball a lot ticked me off a bit in the first quarter, but he was effective enough overall (5/11) and did a good job on the boards with 8 rebounds.

Kyle was ok, was able to get a few garbage hoops by running the floor and following a miss or two for his 9 points.

Max - he made up for in grit what he lacks in size, at least for this game. His 15 foot jumper was money as well.

Andre was brilliant. He changes the complexion of the game whenever he comes in, and tonight he changed a lot of shots and made the other team's players hesitate at the hoop, making them settle for jumpers. His D also allows the guards to stay home on their men more, improving both interior and perimeter defense. Does he make mistakes? Sure, but even when playing alongside the BoT his ability manages paper over a lot of BoT's (and the team's) cracks on defense. The kid is playing really well, but his and the team's rebounding could stand to get better.

BoT managed to hit a few shots, but again, the defense sucks. If he's not playing with Andre, he's a bigger liability than he is an asset. He also sets some of the weakest screens I've ever seen.

Stuckey was fine. He had a rather poor second quarter, not really having much success at the rim and overall, finishing only 4 of 10 from the floor. His second half was better, hitting a 3 and a clutch stepback jumper. He also had 6 assists.

Corey was again a non-factor. Why he continues to get PT is beyond me, though that might be changing soon as he did not play in the second half.

Coach Frank can't be happy about his team's rebounding (outrebounded by 11 overall) especially after last night's shellacking in that department, and I'm sure that'll be a point of emphasis in the coming days, but for now, this was a good win and it's always good to see a win for the Pistons.

Not sure how singler gets the most minutes while putting up 4 shot attempts, 2 rebs, and 1 ast. He was almost as invisible as it gets.

I agree that dre's d changed the game. He's basically guarding other teams himself while paired with charlie and doing it without getting in foul trouble ever. Amazing ability to neutralize pick and rolls with his speed.

Bk and stuck took over and converted on the transition opps and chaos of the 3rd q.

The box score doesn't show it but Drummond was the key to winning this game. His long run in the 2nd half helped to stop up the Cav offense. He affects so much of the other team's offense at times that it is amazing.

Monroe needs to follow Drummond's lead when he plays next to the Piston starting center in the near future. Pargo took the ball in late at Monroe who looked like CV with a weak defensive effort. Is he pouting or what? I still believe in him but am disappointment at his development this year. At least he needs to get a jumper and work on finishing around the basket so he can be an offensive force next to Drummond.

When Knight looks good he is shooting the ball and shooting it often and not always as the ball handler but also when receiving the ball out on the wings. He looks to me, more and more like a shooting guard. Yes, he got some assists tonight but was still fumbling the ball here and there. I feel more comfortable when Stuckey handles the ball and Knight receives the ball to shoot. Yes, Knight is young but if you look at his skill set it does not shout out point guard. If he looks like a shooting guard....

I was legitimately excited when he and Drummond were out there together over the 3rd and 4th quarters. Who is he taking shots from? I'd rather him shoot it 1 on 3 if he's pushing the ball instead of one of the Pistons half court options.

Knight can get his assists by feeding Drummond.

Drummond had some ridiculous moves to the basket off of passes. He moves like LeBron. He thinks he's one of them.

Lawrence Frank has some Flip Saunders in him with his refusal to mix the players in his rotation. He gets caught with a hot group that can't last the amount of time left in the game. Leads shrink and then he has to make wholesale changes.

If the Pistons were going to showcase anyone it would be Greg Monroe. With so many other needs it doesn't make sense to have 2 Centers. There is a Deron Williams type guy out there somewhere.

He was delirious at one point from laughing so much. He might have had a stroke.

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I reckon he has had a stroke in the past, or at the least a fair few knocks to the head - I'm surprised he still has a job with how slow he is. Hate having to listen to him. The other bloke with his "announcer" voice on the whole time is almost equally annoying. Worst commentators in the L.

This was a win (barely), but just not good enough (from the starters) for a team with some decent young talent against a Kyrie-less Cavs.

Monroe is in a real funk and his D just gets worse the worse he plays. I really want to like him, but his lack of effort and screaming for calls all the time are really annoying - he could go the way of Stuckey with all the early promise and little follow through.

Singler is in a real funk too. Without him shooting well, we are really short in the outside shooting department. Maggette is adding nothing at all and should be moved out of the rotation completely for English, with a two combination of Singler/English/BK on the court at all times.

Max is still playing decent, but with as well as Drum is playing, now is the time to swap them. Maybe it sparks Monroe back into some form playing at PF. Certainly helped for BoT. Max being the only other decent big playing defence (currently in the rotation - Slava anyone?) could be paired with BoT, although either at the C is a liability. I'm all for Monroe just playing extended minutes though - he is still probably the most talented on the team and should be playing as many minutes as possible. One more time for the broken record though - there is no reason Drum and Monroe should not be playing more minutes together.

The more I watch us, the more two things become evident:
1. The squad as a whole is no where near being competitive
2. The more time we spend without some good veteran influence, the more it will hurt the young talent.

We need some moves from the office and/or some more minutes in the young guys or this season is just going to a complete be waste.

The other bloke with his "announcer" voice on the whole time is almost equally annoying. Worst commentators in the L.

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That is ex-Pistons announcer Fred McCloud(sp?).

Max is still playing decent, but with as well as Drum is playing, now is the time to swap them. Maybe it sparks Monroe back into some form playing at PF. Certainly helped for BoT. Max being the only other decent big playing defence (currently in the rotation - Slava anyone?) could be paired with BoT, although either at the C is a liability. I'm all for Monroe just playing extended minutes though - he is still probably the most talented on the team and should be playing as many minutes as possible. One more time for the broken record though - there is no reason Drum and Monroe should not be playing more minutes together.

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I don't see why they can't play just Monroe, Drummond and Max. Play CG when it is clear that they're going to lose because they just aren't going to score enough.

I think Monroe would play better if he played with Drummond more. He has a spastic side to him that would work to his benefit in a competitive situation like when he goes against Cousins.

What is the most we could have Monroe and Drummond paired together, only using JMAX as a sub for either.

First of all, if we had two good bigs as subs, of course we could just play the pair 40 minutes a game, with just a 4 minute break around the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters (and into the 2nd and 4th quarters to add that timeout between quarters.)

But if we only use JMAX, and each player needs 8 minutes off, then of course it limits the two to 32 minutes on the court together. Drummond could miss the last 4 minutes of the 1st and 3rd quarters, while Monroe misses the 1st 4 minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarters.

Best scenario. Only plan for Drummond and Monroe to play 32 minutes, always together. And have two capable backups, one for each. And by capable I mean taller than JMAX, and a whole lot more strong than CV. I have not seen Kravtsov play any. Maybe he can be one of those backups. Macklin is available last I checked. (last week)

Planning for 32 minutes, and having capable backups, means a lot of flexibility. In cases of foul trouble. Or in cases where we need the two to go a full 40 minutes in a game to win it.

While on the subject of rotations. We should add both English and Middleton into the rotation. Drop Maggette. Limit Singler to mostly playing backup small forward. (Reducing Tay's minutes). And Middleton could play a bit of small forward too.

If drummond can half cover for charlie v on d, think what he'll do for monroe. We are lucky that our best 2 bigs rarely have foul issues and they will eventually be able to play as much as their conditioning and the coach allows.

Really want to see kravtsov to see if he's decent or not. His highlight reels look like drummond's on dunks and shot blocks at least.

Maggette isnt doing much for me.

Singler averages 1 more point per game than maxiell, which is effcient, but anemic. Lowest usage on the team. I think stuckey is done with his funkey.

I was one of the few here that liked Fred better than Blaha,especially during our Rick Carlisle- Larry Brown days between 2002-2006 when were building and retooling the championship team. Once he jumped ship to the Cavs in 2006, his voice became annoying.